Do ‘Spiked’ authors feed theirkids junkfood and teach them to gamble?

I’ve blogged about the childhood obesity epidemic before but here’s some news about childhood obesity which might surprise you as it did I:

fat children generally consume no more food nor are less physically active than those of ‘normal’ weight

there is no evidence to support the assumption that fast-food outlets and the food they sell make people overweight and obese

eating junk food does not lead to obesity among children.

it is unclear that being a fat child carries significant health risks or increases one’s risk of becoming a fat adult.

there is no link in children between physical activity levels, food intake and obesity.

there is no relationship between a child’s BMI and his or her visits to a doctor or casualty rooms.

No, not my beliefs (and somewhat perplexing given the statistics shown in the graph above) but a well argued, well referenced article by John Luik and (the aptly named) Patrick Basham who coauthored, with Gio Gori, Diet Nation: Exposing the Obesity Crusade. The article appears in a website called Spiked which says it is dedicated to waging a culture war of words against misanthropy, priggishness, prejudice, luddism, illiberalism and irrationalism in all their ancient and modern forms.

Interesting. The sheer amount of studies he sites would make refuting the article a serious undertaking, best left to experts in the field. For my part, I thought I might just see who these guys are. Well for a start, other articles on Spiked by Patrick Basham and John Luik include the myth of an obesity tsunami and obesity hysterics. Also on Spiked others write along along simlar lines including Rob Lyons criticising the idea of displaying calories on restaurant menus and Peter Marsh asking what’s behind the sensationalist child obesity headlines. All this seems to have been sparked by Obama’s recent Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act which for the first time ion 30 years allows the adminstration to make reforms to school meals and add nutrition programs for the 30 million school meals served daily. Basham attacked the Act in the New York Post earlier this month NOT by denying the problem of obesity (instantly abandoning his own rhetoric) but instead by having a go at farm subsidies which result in the widespread use of corn syrup – which he says “promotes obesity”! Ah the wicked we we weave….

Busy boy, that Basham. He also directs the Democracy Institute which has recently published another worthy tome of his entitled Gambling – A Healthy Bet in which the authors tell us Gambling is good for us, is a net contributor to public health which adds to the sum of human happiness.

Maybe showing his hand just a little too much, the blurb goes on to say that ” the authors conclude that policymakers should leave gamblers – and the gambling industry – alone”.

Elsewhere on the site, deputy editor of SpikedRob Lyons splutters about this Greenpeace commercial, writing “a reasonable-minded viewer may very well wish such a bleak future on this insufferable brat”, and charging the adof “fomenting of division between parents and children”:

You won’t be surprised to hear that Lyons denies climate change in the same article and with a flourish of twisted logic concludes “green campaigners demand that we should have a conscience about what we’re doing to the planet – but they don’t seem to have much in the way of a conscience when it comes to scaring adults or manipulating children.” Like the sound of all that? Then you’ll love, also on Spiked: Rob Lyons on Greenpeace’s misanthropic stunts. Ben Pile slamming Greenpeace for putting trees before people and Thomas Deichmann asking just how ‘charitable’ Greenpeace is.

Spike says its funding comes from donations amongst others by “a variety of institutions and companies”.